The Burned-Over District is a term used by some to describe the region of Western New York in the historical period of 1800-1850. It is also sometimes called the Second Great Awakening with a combination of religious, social and political elements.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Popes and Mohammedan Invasions, Then and Now

In 1571, "Pope Pius V, whose treasury bankrolled part of this military endeavor [of the combined forces of Naples, Sardinia, Venice, the Papacy, Genoa, Savoy and the Knights Hospitallers against the fleet of the Ottoman Empire], ordered the churches of Rome opened for prayer day and night, encouraging the faithful to petition the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary through the recitation of the Rosary" — Our Lady of the Rosary and the Battle of Lepanto.

In 1683, "[w]hen it became known that no fewer than 300,000 Turks were advancing on the imperial capital [Vienna], Pope Innocent ordered that rosaries be recited in the religious houses and churches of Rome [and] prayers of supplication were offered throughout the [Holy Roman] Empire" — The Battle of Vienna and the Holy Name of Mary.

In 2016, the pope acknowledges that "we can talk about an Arab invasion" and then in the same breath asks Europe not to pray, much less to defend itself, but to "go forward and find itself enhanced by the exchange among cultures" — Pope Francis Refers To `Arab Invasion' as a Social Reality.